Boston Globe: “In France, the price of a baguette is protected by French law, and so is the price of a book. This says a lot about the place of reading in French life. In 1981, the loi Lang, named for then-president François Mitterand’s flamboyant minister of culture, Jack Lang, mandated that all booksellers, whether… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Financial System
2021 Edelman Trust Barometer
“After a year of unprecedented disaster and turbulence – the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis, the global outcry over systemic racism and political instability – the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals an epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust of societal institutions and leaders around the world. Adding to this is a failing trust ecosystem unable… Continue Reading
CRS – Mergers and Acquisitions in Digital Markets
Mergers and Acquisitions in Digital Markets, March 30, 2021: “Some Members of Congress have expressed concern about mergers and acquisitions in digital markets, specifically those involving “Big Tech”—Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. Mergers can be separated into three categories: (1) a merger between competitors (i.e., horizontal merger), (2) a merger with a firm… Continue Reading
The hybrid office is here to stay. The shift could be more disruptive than the move to all-remote work.
Washington Post – “Citigroup, Ford, TIAA, Target: A growing number of bellwether companies are outlining their hybrid return-to-work plans. The post-vaccine workplace is taking shape, and for many it’s going to be a hybrid model, allowing more remote work but with clear expectations that some days a week will be in the office. Workforce experts… Continue Reading
Visualizing Congressional Votes on the Coronavirus Relief Package
Visualizing Congressional Votes on the Coronavirus Relief Package – “The Washington Post has created a series of visualizations that show how sharply polarized Congressional votes on the coronavirus relief package were. Even though most Americans support the bill, one visualization shows that there were only three votes in Congress that were not Democrats voting to pass… Continue Reading
Ars Technica’s non-fungible guide to NFTs
Ars Technica: “It has been nearly 10 years now since Ars Technica first described Bitcoin to readers as “the world’s first virtual currency… designed by an enigmatic, freedom-loving hacker, and currently used by the geek underground to buy and sell everything from servers to cellphone jammers.” A decade later, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are practically… Continue Reading
Billions of records have been hacked already. Make cybersecurity a priority or risk disaster, warns analyst
ZDNet – “A new report warns against relegating cybersecurity to the bottom of the to-do list. More data records have been compromised in 2020 alone than in the past 15 years combined, in what is described as a mounting “data breach crisis” in the latest study from analysis firm Canalys. Over the past 12 months,… Continue Reading
The Suez Canal is the linchpin in the world’s trade network
Quartz – “Right now, the Ever Given—a container ship about 1,300 feet long, which is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall—is lodged sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, where it is blocking all other ships from passing. Efforts are underway to remove it, but they’re moving slowly. It could take days to straighten out the… Continue Reading
Remote working may not be the ‘new normal’ after all
Tech Republic: “Firms’ enthusiasm for scaling back on office space may have cooled slightly, with a new survey by professional services group KPMG suggesting that CEOs no longer intend to downsize their physical footprint after the COVID-19 pandemic. KPMG’s 2021 CEO Outlook Pulse Survey indicated that only 17% of chief executives plan to reduce office… Continue Reading
How Books Can Address Economic Inequality
Publishers Weekly – “Economists and political activists have been issuing warnings about growing economic inequality, or the widening economic disparity between social groups, in the U.S. for years. Economic inequality includes income inequality and wealth (or ownership) inequality, and its impact can be measured in how social outcomes for people differ based on their race,… Continue Reading
Ebook Sales Model Brings Together High-Profile Players
Inside Higher Ed – “Seeking sustainable new revenue streams, 16 major university presses have partnered with a for-profit publishing house to sell digital versions of their annual front-list collections. Sixteen major university presses have signed with a Berlin-based scholarly publishing house, De Gruyter, as part of a new initiative to broker ebook sales between presses and… Continue Reading
Where Is My Tax Refund?
Pro Publica – For many Americans, hitting “submit” isn’t the last step in the tax-filing process. Here’s what you need to know about checking your return’s status, reasons it may be delayed and the truth about companies that promise quick cash during tax season.How do I track my tax return? …To track your tax return,… Continue Reading
